Melo slams 76ers fans for 'unacceptable' heckling

Los Angeles Lakers forward Carmelo Anthony says harassment directed toward him during the team's loss to the Philadelphia 76ers crossed the line and forced an altercation.

"Some things were said," Anthony explained following his team's 105-87 defeat, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "Unacceptable. I'm cool with fans heckling, fans talking trash, cheering for their team, booing the other team, I'm all for that. But when you cross certain lines, as a man, you just, that's what you're going to see. That's what you're going to get, as you saw there."

Play was stopped when Anthony confronted a fan near center court five minutes into the fourth quarter after the spectator called the 19-year veteran "boy." While security tended to the situation, another courtside fan heckled him with offensive language, Anthony says, which prompted 76ers big man Joel Embiid to step in.

"I was just trying to calm the situation because they were just going back and forth, and I really wanted to just go home and finish the game," Embiid said.

One spectator was ejected from Wells Fargo Center, a 76ers spokesman told McMenamin.

A day later, the fan who jawed at Anthony was banned indefinitely from all future events at Wells Fargo Center, including 76ers games, the team told McMenamin. The second courtside fan was also suspended for the remainder of the regular season, according to Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes.

Anthony insisted Thursday's incident was out of the ordinary compared to past visits and that Philadelphia has been "a great place to come in and play" throughout his career.